Leaves from the Vine
by TheSuperNinja'sCrabcake
Summary: All Kagome wanted from him was a promise that he would come back alive to her, and she would give one as well. Was it too much to expect that they could both come from their final battles unscathed in worlds as separate as theirs?


**Leaves from the Vine**

(It wasn't like her to do things like this.)

"_I'll survive for you. Even if the well closes, I'll find a way to make it back to you," she found herself saying, unable to stop herself from saying the words because she knew that if she said them then he had to say the same thing back to her. That he would _have _to try his best not to get killed. They were both approaching their final confrontations, and it frightened her more than she would ever articulate._

(It wasn't like her to make promises; least of all impossible ones.)

"_Promise me," she found herself begging, pulling on the front of his shirt as she desperately tried to draw his warmth closer only for his form to remain rooted where he was._

"_Do you want me to lie?" Kurama murmured sadly, his thumb feathering over her cheek to smooth away a crystalline tear. Their auras mingled underneath the shadow of the Goshinboku, the overwhelming heat of his aura smothering her freezing reiki with a purposefully tingling (but calming, always calming) embrace of youki._

"_Kagome," his voice fell over her like liquid, but it doused her coldly with his next words. He lifted her chin so that her azure eyes could meet his emeralds. "Are you saying all this because you know that you'll die?"_

_She bit her lip (so, so hard), her eyes avoiding his. "I'm saying that because I know that kitsune never break their promises."_

"_I promise, then" he murmured into her hair, his breath warming her head._

_Satisfied, she leaned her head back against the plains of his chest, finding her grounding in the sound of his thudding heartbeat. How different it was from hers, which thrummed like a hummingbird at the slightest provocation. No, Kurama's heart was a steady, solid rhythm that she could always count on. It pumped lively against her ear, anchoring her and solidifying her decision to stay in the future after the final battle with Naraku._

"_Will you tell him?" The question suddenly rose in the air between them, Kurama's arms tightening around her tensely. _

"_I'll tell him when I go back." Kagome buried her face in his chest, trying to hide the rest of her tears from him, though she knew that he could sense them. (She really didn't want to spend what could be their last moment together crying.)_

"_When are you going back?" his words were casual, but she could feel the tautness of his muscles and the bobbing of his Adams' Apple. _

"_Tonight."_

_His only answer was the sudden slanting of his mouth over hers, his tongue coaxing her lips to part hotly before he made sure to claim every inch of his territory. _

"_Mine," the growl rumbled from his throat as he pulled away from her lips to stare into her eyes, his gaze devouring her._

_Kagome's arms curl up behind his back, fingers absent-mindedly stroking Kurama's burgundy locks, eyes half-lidded. This time, instead of her usual response of "Always", she finds herself answering with a subdued hum._

And, right now, she wished that she could have forced herself to say it, right now with her body quivering as she made her eyes scan over the note that had been left on the counter, telling her that Mama, Souta, and Gramps were away at the hot springs for a few days.

Her muscles felt like lead as she trudged, directionless, through her house. (It had only been a ten minutes since…)

The house was so quiet (without the sound of her mother bustling around in the kitchen, Souta's shouting at his video games, or Gramps rambling about demons) that it echoed alongside her footsteps.

(It had only been eleven minutes since they defeated Naraku).

It had only been a twelve minutes since she had forced herself out of the well house and wandered blindly towards the shrine, stepping through the threshold that had become more of a solidified home (not just a base to return to) over the past year than ever before.

Without Kurama, she would have (without a doubt) failed school, but he helped her catch up in all of her studies, enabling her to pass her exams. And all it took for them to pull each other into the other's world, was one accidental touch of their auras when they had both fallen asleep over a textbook. A single touch, and her life had changed.

She had never met anyone before who had known about both worlds and to be loved by someone that understood and didn't think she was crazy…(it left her _breathless_).

And not the type of breathless that she was feeling right now (too wheezy, too coagulated, too _coppery_).

A loud bang startled her from her thoughts (which had started to drift again) and it took her a second to realize that it was the front door rattling underneath a knock. The realization had her heart climbing into her throat, threatening to jump from the defaming height, and she shakily took a hasty step forward.

Her heart was beating in synch with her head.

Thud. _Kurama. _Thud. _Kurama. _Thud. _Just…_ Thud. _Please… _Thud. _Be-_

She touched the door, ignoring the stinging of the well's splinters in her hands, the knob slick with her blood as it turned through her fingers. Flinging it open, grateful tears in her eyes, she choked out a thankful, "There you are! I was beginning to think that you forgot your pr—" Her voice caught in her throat, the words dying where they laid ready on her tongue.

Yusuke reluctantly raised his eyes to hers, biting his lip, his entire body shaking with how tightly his fists were clenched; thinking how, how, how, how could he tell her. (She could see it all in his face.)

"Kuram…"

And she couldn't find it in herself, within the depths of the hollowness that was spreading like a disease, infesting her entire body; she couldn't find it in herself to scream. Instead, she focused on the viscosity of her blood between her fingers.

"Kagome!" Yusuke shouted, his voice rough with panic as he noticed the large wound that her free hand was pressing tightly against. (Who knew that it hurt more coming from her enraged protector rather than their enemy?)

"I just…" Kagome's eyes slid closed, tears slipping down her cheeks hotly (steaming, scorching, _bleeding) _as she let out a slightly breathy, hysterical laugh. "I just wanted to keep my promise. I wanted him to be the last that…I…I tried so hard to make it here, Yusuke, and-"

Tears cut her off; that, or blood. Whatever it was, it was slick and hot and running down (up?) her throat.

"Holy shit, Kagome we need to get you to-"

(Did it even matter where she went anymore?)

"…_Kagome"_

" _Kagome," _(Yusuke?)

"_Kagome, dammit, stay with me! _Kagome!" (…Was she still Kagome?)

Somewhere, she could feel Yusuke's hands gripping her skin, could hear him chanting her name over and over, trying to get to her past her gurgled whispering. (Or were her lips even moving? They were so numb now that she couldn't tell anymore.)

Everything felt surreal and out of body, almost as if she were drifting to sleep. (Except sleep had never felt as heavy as this...)

Finally her eyes managed to flutter open, though it was like searching through a fog, and she could vaguely feel Yusuke slapping her face desperately, his aura trying to jolt her into awareness.

"Kagome, Kurama-" he started, eyes burning into hers.

(But she was already gone).

She was floating.

(She was fading).

She was nothing.

(She was everything).

**Please review!**

**A/N: A random Kagome/Karama one-shot that I created in order for me to test out the parantheses style of writing that I've been seeing lately. What Yusuke was going to tell Kagome was that Kurama wasn't dead, he was in critical condition at the hospital. **

**Music: The song that inspired me to do this was a cover of Leaves from the Vines (From Avatar: The Last Airbender) by Adriasarus. You should check it out!**

**Please leave me your thoughts!**

**-Eryn "Ninja" Silvenia**


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